Blood of a Pirate
by Whispered Desire
Summary: "After the terrible things we've done to each other, how can we just put it all behind us?" Elizabeth whispered. She really was beautiful, with her locks of hair framing her face, and her eyes… he would have followed those eyes into a pit of fire. "Maybe we shouldn't. After all," Jack smiled, a sad smile that did not suit him. "What else do we have?" JE, post-AWE.
1. Chapter One

**A/N: **So I picked probably the worst possible time to start a new multi-chaptered fic but whatever, here it is! So as the description says, it's Sparrabeth and post-AWE (conveniently ignoring that annoying little scene after the credits). The title is reminiscent of Will in CotBP but not relevant, it just fits the later plot.

Enjoy! x

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Blood of a Pirate

Chapter One

He came after one hundred and seventeen days.

Elizabeth ignored the nervous flutter of her heart as she stared out of her bedroom window across the streets of Shipwreck Cove below. In the distance she could see the proud silhouette of the _Black Pearl_'s sails swaying against the background of the setting sun. The sight gave her an inexplicably hollow feeling, and her eyes drifted towards the mast… the sound of metal shackles mercilessly locking reverberated in her head.

He came one hundred and seventeen days after she had bid farewell to William Turner and in her mind she pretended that it was for Will's sake that she was counting down the days, and not for… other people. Certainly not one person in particular that she had been waiting for, who undoubtedly did not care whether or not she was waiting for him, and who would probably prefer it if she wasn't here at all.

* * *

"I see ye got me letter."

Jack Sparrow looked across the room at Captain Teague, who sat at his desk, poring over maps instead of looking at him. He considered for a moment.

"What letter?" Jack asked nonchalantly. He casually brushed his hand over his pocket, hoping that the crumpled letter he had read nigh one hundred times was not showing through the fabric of his breeches. Satisfied that it was not, he moved and sat himself opposite Teague and reached for an apple. He wrinkled his nose distastefully at the green ones and instead chose a red one.

Teague looked up at him. "Ye never were a good liar, Jackie."

Jack stopped himself from smirking. "I can assure ye, I've had a lot of practice since then." Then being the time that Teague had caught Jack, aged sixteen, sneaking back into his room in the dead of night and was told that no, actually, Jack was not sneaking off to meet the ladies of Shipwreck Cove, but had actually been for a bath. The mud on his boots and the lipstick on his neck had obviously just not been washed properly.

"Anyway, I'm not lyin'," Jack continued, smiling at his recollections. "Never got a letter. Important, was it?"

Teague sighed. "Elizabeth's here."

Jack inspected the apple in his hand with exaggerated interest. "Oh," he said blankly. "That's nice. But why is that any of my concern?"

* * *

The sky was inky with the black of night by the time he strolled carelessly through her door without even bothering to knock. She gasped and rose from her chair, feeling suddenly bare with only her nightgown on. She wanted to cover herself more substantially but that would involve walking past him, and something in the way he stood there, just looking at her, froze her to the spot. She folded her arms over her chest. His dark, indiscernible gaze made her shiver and goosebumps rose up all over her arms, something that did not escape his notice. He inwardly smirked at her discomfort.

"Mrs Turner," Jack said nonchalantly, inclining his head. Elizabeth forced herself not to flinch at the way he addressed her.

"Captain Sparrow," she responded pointedly, mimicking his formality. He gazed at her face for a few seconds before his eyes roved up and down her body. She shuddered, wishing he would not do such things while hating herself for reacting in such a way, and wrapped her arms more tightly around herself.

"Have you… have you brought a message from Will?" Elizabeth asked nervously, looking up at him. He absently noted that she could not stop herself from trembling. He told himself it was because she was cold but somehow that explanation was not as satisfying.

Jack stared at her intently, his eyes taking in every detail of her face. She was thinner than he remembered, her cheekbones shining through the pale skin of her face. He wondered vaguely how long she had been at Shipwreck Cove, but found himself having to quell the hopeful voice in his head that suggested that maybe she had been waiting for him…

"No," he answered bluntly. He studied her face carefully to measure her reaction to that. She flinched at the harshness in his tone and nodded, returning her gaze meekly to the floor. In truth, the question had stung, but he refused to dwell on the possible reasons why for the moment. "I haven't seen him."

She returned her eyes to his face, eyebrows furrowed. "Then why are you here?"

"I fail to see how that is any of yer business," he shrugged, and, to Elizabeth's utter horror, proceeded to walk across her room and make himself comfortable by lying (lying!...) on her bed. The desk Elizabeth had risen from was close enough to the bed that she now felt uncomfortable in his proximity, so she used the opportunity to retrieve her dressing gown from the other side of the room and wrap it tightly around her. But when she turned back around to face him on the bed, she was startled to find that he had silently moved to stand behind her, so she was now greeted by the sight of him mere inches away from her. To her dismay, it took her breath away to look into his eyes, so unreadable, and feel the heat radiating from his body, clad only in his shirt, waistcoat and breeches.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, annoyed at herself for feeling so suddenly helpless.

"Why are _ye_ here?" he countered, looking at her pensively. He had to exercise a surprising level of self-restraint not to ravish her right there and then; her dressing gown was just as thin as the nightgown itself and it made her look torturously desirable.

"I'm the Pirate King," she said blankly. Even though it did not really answer his question, she hoped it would suffice to keep him from pressing the issue. "So what are _you _doing here?"

Jack moved one step towards her, causing her to take one step back and collide with the wall behind her. He smirked and put one hand on the wall beside her head. "Need some extra scallywags for me crew. I'm runnin' low and it'll be a long journey."

"A long journey where?" Elizabeth asked faintly, suddenly feeling cold. Although she had the distinct feeling that there was more to his presence at Shipwreck Cove than he was telling her…

He tilted his head back to look at her, unsure whether or not to be truthful. But she was looking at him so sincerely… "The Fountain of Youth."

She gazed at him, transfixed, mulling over his words in her head. _The Fountain of Youth… _it was only a legend, wasn't it? But of course, there had been days when he, Jack Sparrow, had been a mere legend to her and look where they were now. Not only had she met the man of the legend, but she had also killed him.

"I'm sorry, Jack," she blurted suddenly, catching him off guard. She looked up into his eyes, catching a flicker of surprise at her sudden admission before he pushed it away.

"What for?" he asked quietly, and Elizabeth was not sure whether he was toying with her or if he was being serious.

"For…" she faltered. She did not want to say it out loud, it sounded so harsh and cold. "For… leaving you on the ship that day."

His eyes sparkled slightly, as though he were deep in thought. "No yer not," he said finally, surprising her.

"I am, Jack. Can you forgive me?" she whispered, barely audible, her heart pounding in her chest.

He gazed intently, as though considering this. Then he simply responded, "No."

Elizabeth blanched. "Why not? You seemed amiable enough with Barbossa after the Locker, and after everything he did to you, surely-"

"Ah, but yer forgettin' one very important detail there, Mrs_ Turner_," he sneered cruelly, placing particular emphasis on the one word Elizabeth did not wish to hear. Hearing her married name on his lips made her stomach clench unpleasantly, yet she still lifted her chin defiantly, accepting her title and preparing to hear whatever vile insult he was surely going to throw her way.

"And what is that?" she asked through gritted teeth.

His sneer became colder, if that was possible. "I killed him." Elizabeth flinched, his words shattering her heart like a bullet through glass. Was that really what he had in mind for her? "Twice now, actually," he continued, glancing down and inspecting his fingernails as casually as if he was holding a conversation about the weather.

"Twice?" Elizabeth whispered.

"Aye. Seems he didn't learn his lesson the first time around," Jack looked up at her, his face indifferent, unflinching. "He stole the _Pearl _again, and I've grown tired of second chances."

He had to be bluffing, she thought as she looked at him, comprehending his words. Had he really killed Barbossa a second time? His intended meaning was quite clear; there would be no forgiveness between them, and perhaps he had come to claim his revenge on her as well. But, she tried to reason with herself, he had justification for killing Barbossa, a man who had betrayed his trust in the worst way imaginable… no. Her face drained of all colour. Barbossa had betrayed Jack, yes, but not in the worst way imaginable… it was she who had done that, she realised, her heart sinking. She remembered with horrifying clarity the look in his eyes as he broke their kiss, as it dawned on him what she had done… what she intended on doing to him… She deserved a second chance from him as little as anyone.

_Pirate._

"So…" she faltered, her voice breaking, "so that's why you've really come? You want to take your revenge on me at last?"

His head tilted to one side, as if he was considering. "And if I have," he mused darkly, "what would be the best way to take my revenge?"

"You should kill me," she replied without hesitation, and she spotted the surprise in his eyes before he caught it and forced it away. "That's what you want to do, isn't it?"

"What would ye know about what I want?" Jack snapped, harsher than he intended but not as harsh as he felt. This time she could see the anger in his face… until now she had thought he was merely toying with her, just making her think he was angry until he could get what he wanted from her. But now she could see that he truly was angry with her, as he had every right to be. "I can't forgive ye because I know ye'd do it again given the chance."

Elizabeth saw the flash of hurt in his eyes then, saw the remnants of the trust he'd placed in her that she had shattered. But it was only for a moment, because before she could register anything else he had pinned her up against the wall with his body and pulled her into a bruising kiss. She was too taken aback to stop him, to think of Will, to push him away… or at least that's what she would tell herself in the aftermath. Meanwhile, she focused all her energy in returning the kiss with as much passion as she could manage.

His hands crept down the length of her body to open the front of the dressing gown, and then she felt his hand ghosting up the skin of her thigh to rest on her hip, underneath the fabric of her flimsy nightgown. He noted, head swirling, that she was not wearing underwear beneath her already risqué nightwear. He had to stifle a groan as he pulled away from her. Their eyes locked for a brief second and he was pleased to note that her cheeks were no longer pale, but rather flushed and rosy. There was a question in her eyes that he did not want to see so he looked away, moving his lips to her neck instead, one of his hands gripping her waist so tightly she was sure he would leave bruises. His other hand was warm on the cool skin of her hip. The heady feeling made her weak and her arms rose up of their own accord to rest around his neck, until she was clinging to him for support. He responded by grazing his lips across the soft flesh of her neck and was rewarded with a soft moan that sounded a lot like his name. He grinned against her skin before pulling back and forcing her to look him in the eye. Her eyes, he noted triumphantly, had misted over and turned dark.

"Jack," Elizabeth whispered. It sounded like a question. Her heavy breathing was warm on his face and he found he had to steady his own as well.

"Has Will ever kissed ye like that?" Jack asked gruffly, watching her recoil as though he'd slapped her. "Has he ever made ye feel like this?" he swirled his thumb over the skin of her hip beneath the fabric of her nightgown, watching as her eyes fluttered closed and she trembled beneath his touch, apparently forgetting that she was supposed to be annoyed with him.

* * *

"So Jackie's sailing to the Fountain of Youth, is he?" Teague muttered interestedly.

Joshamee Gibbs furrowed his brows for a moment before he realised that 'Jackie' was actually Captain Jack. "Oh, aye," he said hurriedly, "once he's set on something there's no talkin' him out of it."

Teague smirked, rereading the letter he had sent to Jack, who had not noticed it fall from his breeches pocket in his haste to leave the room and find Elizabeth. "No, there ain't."

Gibbs smiled nervously, feeling as though there was some information behind that statement that he was not privy to. He scratched his head, looking around the room. "Where is Jack?"

Teague smiled briefly. "He's set on somethin'."

At Gibbs' questioning look, Teague handed him the letter in his hand. Gibbs scanned it quickly, suddenly understanding why Jack had brought them here.

"Barbossa with ye?" Teague asked in a gruff voice, catching Gibbs' attention.

"He's in the brig on the _Pearl_," Gibbs answered slowly, unsure whether that was information he was allowed to share…

* * *

Jack reached up and pulled Elizabeth's arms down from around his neck. Disappointed at the loss of his hand on her hip, she watched him through glazed eyes as he took hold of her right wrist. She bit her lip as he inspected it, running his thumb over the angry 'P' that by rights did not belong there.

"Teague told me. This shouldn't have happened," he muttered darkly. He looked at her then, his eyes full of dismay. She stared back, utterly silent. "Come with me," he murmured, his words falling over her like stars.

"What?" she practically squeaked. She searched his face but he did not seem to be joking, and she wasn't sure whether she would prefer it if he was…

"To the Fountain," he whispered quickly, his smooth voice enchanting her. He was still gently rubbing the raised skin of her brand with his thumb, she noted absently.

"Why should I?" she asked tonelessly. "I mean… why would you want me to?"

Jack looked at her thoughtfully. He could tell her the truth, one of the many truths, that this was a way to break the curse of her dearly beloved… he could tell her that, but for some abstract reason he did not want her to know that just yet. Or rather, he did not want to feel like she was joining him only for _his _sake. Or he could tell her that he actually required her… he considered for a moment. He thought of the map to the Fountain of Youth and the stipulations written on the back…

He chose to ignore the voice in his head that told him he actually wanted her there himself.

"Don't, really," he answered in a rough voice. He thought he saw something in her eyes fade and pondered that for a moment. He dropped her wrist suddenly and Elizabeth flinched. "It's just… curiosity."

Elizabeth sighed. "Will you forgive me?" she whispered, looking into his eyes. Jack took a step back from her and she shivered at the sudden invasion of cool air left in his wake.

"No."

* * *

**A/N: **And that's it for Chapter 1! What do you think so far? Leave a review and let me know!_  
_

**WD,  
xo.**


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N: **Thankyou to everyone who read and reviewed chapter one, and for all the follows and faves! On with chapter two!

Enjoy! x

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Blood of a Pirate

Chapter Two

"Will ye come?" Jack asked, his hand on the door handle. His voice didn't betray his emotions, didn't let her know whether he actually wanted her there or not.

Elizabeth stared at him, thinking how strange it was that he was actually here, just talking to her… asking her to join him on one of the most important voyages of his life. She somehow doubted it was for the sake of curiosity, but then why? One hundred different reasons swirled through her mind as Jack waited patiently for her answer. He shouldn't even want to look at her, let alone be on the same ship, or in the same room, nor have his lips pressed harshly against hers… why had he kissed her like that? Her lips tingled at the memory, but now he seemed so far away from her. His eyes were distant, his face guarded. Something had been broken between them, it occurred to her suddenly. With a not insignificant pang of guilt, she realised that she was the one who'd broken it.

"How can we just put it all behind us?" Elizabeth whispered sadly, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "The terrible things I've done to you, the things we've done to each other… how do we get past that?"

Jack watched her quietly, watched as she wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the floor. She really was beautiful, with her golden sun-streaked locks of hair framing her face and her eyes… those eyes which had haunted his every hour in that interminable time before she came to him in Tortuga. Those eyes that he dreamed of in the Locker, until he would wake up shaking, trying to block out the torturous melody of her voice reverberating in his head, telling him she wasn't sorry for what she had done. He would have followed those eyes into a pit of fire.

"Maybe we don't," Jack murmured faintly. Elizabeth looked at him in dismay, seeing his hand tighten around the handle of the door and feeling inexplicably panicked by the thought that he might be about to walk out of her life for good. He looked tired; she could see wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that hadn't been there the last time she saw him. Perhaps he was at last giving up on her.

"Jack," Elizabeth whispered anxiously, subconsciously wanting to reach out to him and stop him from leaving, from ever leaving her again, but the gesture would have seemed so awkward, so wrong…

"Maybe we shouldn't," he corrected himself, sensing her distress. "After all," he smiled, a sad smile that did not suit him. "What else do we have?"

Elizabeth swallowed slowly, considering her next words carefully. He was right really, what was there between them that was not in some way tainted by her betrayal, or his lies? Had they ever really spoken the truth to each other, whatever that happened to be?

"You still have your revenge to take," Elizabeth answered softly. She looked at him, her face brave; her eyes frightened. She had already told him that he should kill her, she did not need to say it again, nor did she wish to. She was not sure whether he would truly go through with it; she would have thought that he would not, but he had killed Barbossa twice now, and for a much less severe transgression… now she was not so sure what he would or would not do.

"It's not the opportune moment," Jack said darkly, opening the door. Elizabeth released a shaky breath as he stepped out into the corridor and closed the door behind him.

* * *

"Are ye just goin' to sit there all day starin' at me?" Barbossa demanded of Ragetti, annoyed.

"Them was Cap'n Sparrow's orders," Ragetti answered politely. Barbossa rolled his eyes, cursing Jack Sparrow to the lowest circle of hell. "'E said I was to wait here with ye until his business is finished in Sh- in where we are."

Barbossa raised an eyebrow, looking at Ragetti. He looked deeply annoyed with himself for perhaps saying too much. So they were in Shipwreck Cove, were they? Barbossa grinned. His letter had obviously made it, after all.

Now all he needed to do was wait for Sparrow to do something incredibly… stupid.

* * *

"I hear yer venturin' to the Fountain of Youth, Jackie," Teague grinned at Jack. "An' I also hear yer takin' Barbossa along with ye."

Jack shot a disdainful look at Gibbs, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged. He was deeply distrustful of Captain Teague and if he breathed a word of Barbossa's presence aboard the _Black Pearl _to Elizabeth, who was currently under the impression that he was dead… that was a conversation Jack would rather not face. Not yet, anyway. _"Everything you said to me, every word was a lie…"_

"If ye wouldn't mind keepin' that information to yerself I'd be grateful," Jack smiled falsely at Teague. There was a chance that Elizabeth would refuse to go with him if she caught wind of Barbossa's actual state of being. She hadn't exactly given him an answer yet, but Jack felt decidedly more hopeful of her agreeing to go if she still believed that he'd killed Barbossa again. Although he felt somewhat guilty for lying to her, fear could be an excellent motivator. As things stood, she believed he wanted revenge on her. _"What else do we have?" "You still have your revenge to take."_

"Will Elizabeth be joinin' ye, then?" Teague asked casually, catching Jack off guard and shaking him from his thoughts.

Jack regarded him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "I've asked her, an' she's thinkin' about it," he answered slowly.

"That's interestin'," Teague said, smirking. Jack shot him an uneasy look, getting the distinct impression that Teague knew more than he should about the whole situation.

* * *

Jack was about to blow out the last remaining candles on his desk when there was a knock at the door. Confused, he went to open it. Expecting Gibbs, he was surprised to find a sheepish Elizabeth waiting out in the corridor. She had wound her way through the maze of Shipwreck Cove to the room he hadn't occupied since he was seventeen, gotten lost twice along the way, and now, as she gazed into Jack's piercing eyes, wished she had not bothered. He didn't offer so much as a greeting, but remained stoically silent as he waited for her to speak.

"I just came to tell you I'll join you on your journey," Elizabeth said boldly, unnerved by his silence. Jack raised one eyebrow questioningly. She hurried on, "I mean, it occurred to me that…"

When she trailed off for no apparent reason, Jack inclined his head, knitting his eyebrows. "Well I just thought that maybe…"

Her words faded into the air once more. She didn't know how to phrase what she wanted to say, didn't know whether she actually wanted to say it at all. Jack's eyes sparkled with dim amusement at her flustered attempts to explain herself.

"Ye seem to be havin' some trouble articulatin' these thoughts and occurrences, love," Jack observed dryly, a small smirk playing about his lips. He pushed the door open wider and moved to let her past. Elizabeth hesitated before stepping into the room. As she did, she looked around curiously. A large bookcase stood to the left of Jack's desk; intrigued, she went to inspect it. She was astonished to find volumes of Shakespeare, their cracked spines telling her that Jack Sparrow, of all people, had indeed read them. There were other books on the shelf that she did not recognise.

"I wouldn't have said you were a Shakespeare man, Jack," Elizabeth observed, turning to face him with an amused expression on her face.

"Appearances can be deceivin'," he grinned. "I wouldn't have said ye were Pirate King material."

She smirked, for once being able to recognise one of his lies the moment it left his lips. "Now why are ye here?" Jack asked, folding his arms. Elizabeth's smile faded and she looked at the floor.

"I thought that maybe if I went to sea…" Elizabeth mumbled, suddenly shy. Her hands fidgeted as she avoided making eye contact with him, "…maybe I could see Will."

There was a long, deeply uncomfortable pause. She did not want to see the expression on his face. Indeed, her words had surprised him to say the least. He regarded her curiously, wondering why she seemed to hang her head in such shame for wanting to see her husband.

"Perhaps I should just kill ye and be done with it," Jack mused.

Elizabeth's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked up at him. "I –"

But she was cut off by the sudden pressure of his lips on hers. They were there for only a moment before he moved his mouth to her neck, doing sinfully wicked things to her flesh with his tongue and teeth. His hands slid up underneath her shirt to hold her waist. Through the hazy mist of her mind, she realised that he was speaking to her between kisses.

"…if you prick us, do we not bleed?" Elizabeth moaned gently as he nipped at her skin. Her hands clung to his shoulders as if for dear life. "If you tickle us, do we not laugh?" His hands gripped her waist tightly, branding her skin with his touch. Her fingers found their way into his hair, grabbing, pulling. "If you poison us, do we not die?" Elizabeth's heart fluttered uncomfortably, his words beginning to cut through the fog in her mind with their harshness, completely at odds with the soft feel of his lips on her neck.

"And if you wrong us…" Jack murmured, his lips travelling from the bruised flesh of her neck to her earlobe. He caught it between his teeth and she whimpered. "…shall we not revenge?"

Elizabeth shivered, feeling conflicted. His words frightened her yet amazed her; that he had Shakespeare committed to memory made her knees so weak that if he had not been holding her so strongly she was quite sure she would have fallen to the floor. But at the same time, every second she remained in his arms was a second he could use to harm her. And yet, he wasn't. But, she realised, her eyes flying open, every second she was in his arms also had the potential to harm Will. Suddenly she was furious with him, the way he held her so arrogantly, as if she belonged to him… she ignored the heady rush it gave her and forced her head away from his so he would look her fully in the eye. She pushed his hands out from under her shirt, where his thumb had been tracing patterns on the smooth plane of her stomach. His face was surprisingly blank.

"So that's what it is between us, then? Kiss or kill?" Elizabeth asked angrily.

"Sometimes it's both," Jack retorted quickly, his jaw clenched. The way her face drained of all colour made his heart ache with guilt. Her eyes were not angry anymore but tremendously sad, a look he had seen on her face only a handful of times before. He should know better than to throw that in her face. She stared at him in disbelief a few moments longer before trying to push past him, but his strong grip on her arms stopped her from going anywhere.

"I don't think so, love," Jack said gruffly, pulling her back with some force.

"Well kill me then!" Elizabeth cried furiously, her eyes ablaze. "Or don't, just make up your mind! I can't keep playing this game with you, Jack."

"Tempt not a desperate man," he warned, his eyes flashing.

"I hardly think you desperate," Elizabeth said scornfully, growing tired of his insistence on hiding behind someone else's words which were older than they were. "And I am not afraid of you."

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "But perhaps I am afraid of you."

* * *

**A/N: **Probably not my best work, but at least there was a lot of Sparrabethyness! That's totally a word. **Please review!**

**WD,  
xo.**


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